Page 45 of Puck Prince

“But under several conditions.”

I gesture for her to continue. “Name them.”

“I call the shots. You can’t just do whatever, wherever, whenever to make yourself look good. If I had to guess, you are used to dating airhead puck bunnies—something I am not. If we are going to do this, and I am going to pretend that I would actually be in a relationship with you, it’s going to look like you datedup. Got it?”

“Easy enough.” I shrug. “I mean, you’re not exactly the type of girl I usually go for. Blonde-haired Medusas aren’t really my thing. What else?”

“You won’t be seen fucking around with other women when you go out with the guys. It’s bad enough I am agreeing to be seen with you. You won’t make my judgment look even worse by being shady.”

“Trust me: If I am putting up with you, I think that’s about all the pain in the ass I can handle.” I make a second attempt to step around her and be done with it, but she presses a hand to my chest to stop me.

“One more thing.”

“What’s that?” I ask through my teeth. One, I don’t like all these stipulations. And two, the contact is burning my flesh.

“It’s going to cost you.”

As if it isn’t already.

I let out a laugh. “I’m sorry? You want me to buy you off?”

“Not me. You are going to donate a large sum of money to a charity of my choice.”

“Seriously?Thatis blackmail.”

She half-shrugs. “I guess it is.”

I sigh. This is getting way more complicated—and expensive—than I’d intended. But seeing as how we both have each other backed into a corner, I don’t have much choice. And money is one thing I can afford to part with.

Keeping Summer safe matters way more.

“Fine.”

She gives me a small, spiteful smile and turns to head to her apartment. But before she can get away, I grab her elbow. “Not so fast. I have one stipulation of my own.”

Callie yanks her wrist from my grip and crosses her arms. “What’s that?”

“A date.”

“What kind of date?” she asks.

“A ‘real’ date,” I say with air quotes. “We need to convince people that we aren’t just fucking around. That this is the real deal.” I can tell by the way she is chewing her lip she doesn’t like it, but I press on. “All you have to do is let me wine and dine you. For the cameras.”

“Deal,” she finally agrees and pushes past me. “Now, hit the shower. I won’t have a fake boyfriend that smells like a dirty jockstrap.”

16

CALLIE

“Give me five minutes.” Owen unlocks his apartment.

“For what?”

“To shower.” He gives me an exasperated look. “It was your condition. Keep up, girl.”

“Wait. You mean we are going outnow?”

I was planning to collapse against Kennedy’s door the second it was closed and spend a few cinematic minutes—or days—pondering how in the hell I found myself in a fake situationship with my baby daddy.

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